The clear strength of the Las Vegas Raiders' defense is the big boys up front, led by Maxx Crosby. Beyond him, the presence of defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, Adam Butler being a budding interior force and Malcolm Koonce returning on the edge opposite Crosby are all reasons for optimism.
Of course, Wilkins' first season as a Raider was cut to five games by a broken foot that he suffered in Week 5. After an offseason of speculation that he suffered a setback with his recovery, multiple sources were able to confirm that he was back in a walking boot.
With the assumption that Wilkins misses some time to start the season, the Raiders will need a plan to cover for his absence. They have some interesting defensive tackle depth with players like Leki Fotu, Jonah Laulu, Zachary Carter and rookies J.J. Pegues and Tonka Hemingway, but it is safe to assume the team will leave no stone unturned to fill the void left by Wilkins.
Raiders could go outside the box to help cover for Christian Wilkins' absence
To that end, Moe Moton of Bleacher Report has offered a bold prediction for how the Raiders will rearrange things in Wilkins' presumed absence. He proposed that the team move former first-round pick Tyree Wilson from edge rusher to defensive tackle.
"At 6'6", 275 pounds, Tyree Wilson has lined up inside in a pinch over the last two years," Moton wrote. "If he bulks up, the versatile defensive lineman can take on more snaps on the interior. The Raiders can experiment with his role to get more production out of the 2023 first-rounder."
Wilson has lined up inside a bit over the last two seasons, so making this adjustment, if needed, wouldn't be completely foreign to him. Moton suggested he'd need to bulk up, but at 275 pounds, he might not need to.
RELATED: NFL coach praises Raiders star among best in league (if he even plays this season)
The potential detriment to his success playing inside more often would be his prototypical edge rusher length and how that may impact his ability to consistently win the leverage game against guards and centers.
Drafted two general managers ago, now, 2025 is shaping up as a make-or-break season for Wilson as a Raider. It was well-known how raw he was coming out of Texas Tech, but 8.0 sacks and less than 31 defensive snaps per game over his first two seasons is firmly on the lowest end of expectations.
Las Vegas surely knows more about Wilkins' return timeline than they've let be known to the public, and the new regime will explore every avenue to cover for his absence. At the very least, however, the idea of seeing what Wilson can do as a defensive tackle is interesting and definitely plausible.